Five days later, Simpson sat in the waiting room of a skin and vein clinic, waiting to start the long, painful process of having his tattoos, most replete with Nazi or white pride iconography, removed.

“Hate will blind you to so many things. It will stop you from having so many things,” Simpson said. “It consumes you.”

Simpson, a 38-year-old garbage man and former Marine, said he has given up on hate.

It is a decision he made for his family, for his wife Misty and his children, 9-year-old Cody, 7-year-old Kayleigh, 5-year-old Nikolaus and the 2-year-old twins, Tyrsson and Aeric.

Even without the tattoos, which sprawl down his arms and up his neck, Simpson's presence can be intimidating.

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At 6 feet and 245 pounds, he fills out clothing with authority. He does not think his tattoos draw notice, but they are hard to miss.

“PURE HATE,” is tattooed across his knuckles. His forearms read “BLOOD” and “HONOR.” There are four battle-axes in the shape of a swastika on his left shoulder with the words “Supreme White Power” over them.

There are 42 in all, he thinks.

Simpson was a member of Battalion 14, a white pride group with supporters in Michigan.

His involvement in the white pride movement began in a place of pain, frustration and anger. On April 28, 2000, Chris and Misty Simpson lost their first child, Alexis Nicole.

Born with open spina bifida, a buildup of fluid in the brain, clubbed feet, and no intestines or stomach, Alexis lived only 2½ hours.

Recently married and struggling to scratch out a life in Danville, Va., Alexis' death sent Simpson reeling.

“I was feeling a lot of anger and hatred, and I was confused,” Simpson said.

Simpson directed that hatred, with the help of a white pride group in his community, at people of other races. He believed that other races were succeeding at the expense of white people. They were driving nice cars, living in nice houses, watching nice televisions while he and Misty struggled.

The white pride movement gave Simpson a place to direct his anger and frustration. He viewed stories in the media through a white vs. black lens. Increasingly, he thought whites were becoming targets. He called this a “racial awakening.”

In December, fighting within the organization and what seemed like total reliance on the Simpsons to finance the group's activities, caused Chris and Misty to call it quits.

During a shopping trip, one of his children looked down an aisle, then up at Simpson and said, “Daddy, you can't go down that aisle” — then used a racial slur for African Americans.

“It was time to make a change for them,” Simpson said. “I don't want them following that path.”

In April, Simpson stood in the baptismal pool at New Horizons Community Church. He wore a white tank top and white shorts, tattoos on full display for the congregation.

Pastor Jerry Lyon placed his hand on Simpson and said, “God, I know that there are things from his past life that need to be buried. And God, today we enjoy the opportunity. We take glory in that opportunity to bury that old life and to say to you God, I am a new creation in Jesus Christ.”

With Simpson holding his nose, Lyon lowered him back into the water. The congregation applauded.

“Any kind of burdens I carried before, I let them go. There's no need to carry things that happen in the past,” Simpson said. “I forgave all those who have wronged me and asked for forgiveness from those that I have wronged.”

Simpson's baptism came a month after he and family watched the movie “Courageous,” which follows the lives of four police officers who excel at their jobs but flounder in the task of fatherhood.

Simpson connected with the movie, and after watching it, he noticed a sign out in front of New Horizons inviting people to come watch it for free.

Within a month, he was baptized. He attends a Bible study. Prayers start meals and end days. His children, once picking up on Simpson's racism, now model his Christianity.

“When we accepted Christ,” Simpson said of his family, “it was like this whole house was transformed. I'm just hoping this rollercoaster ride keeps going up.”